A Tale Within A Tale
by Hart4Ben
Summary: A descendent of the Cartwright family discovers his family history. Written for a tall tale challenge.
On a lazy Sunday afternoon, ten year-old Noah Cartwright sat flipping through the channels on his family's forty-two inch LCD screen. He happened upon an old episode of "Comstock Lode." He thoughtfully took in the four men dressed in 1800's western garb along with their gun belts and pistols. The "Damonte" family, a father and three sons, proudly rode beautiful horses through a lush, green field as snow capped mountains loomed majestically in the background.

Noah turned to his father, Jason, who was sitting on the opposite end of the sofa, and asked, "Dad, did you ever shoot a gun?"

His father looked up momentarily from his Ipad. "What was that, Noah?"

The boy's eyes were drawn back to the screen. "Did you ever shoot a gun?"

"Uh…yes, a few times, a long time ago, on my Grandpa Joe's farm…Why?"

"Those guys are dressed weird and they have guns on. Is this an old show?"

Jason Cartwright looked up at the big screen just in time to see a man with a brilliant smile, dressed in a green jacket, sitting astride a black and white pinto pony.

"Yeah, it's an old show. My dad used to watch it every Sunday night when I was a kid. Comstock something or other I think."

"Comstock Lode." Noah confirmed. "What does that mean anyway?"

"Let me check." Jason quickly searched Wikipedia. "Here it is. 'The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Nevada (then western Utah Territory). It was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States. It was made public in 1859.' Sounds like somebody made a whole lot of money back in the day."

"Did you say Grandpa Ben watched this show?"

"Yeah, I think it reminded him of his great-great-great-grandfather who coincidentally was also named Ben."

Noah mentally tried to process what he was hearing. "There are two Bens in our family, and they shot guns?"

"Yes, there are two Bens, your grandfather Benjamin Cartwright and the first Benjamin Cartwright from back in the 1800's. And, yes, they both probably shot guns. "

Jason put down his tablet and walked over to the shelves on the left side of the screen. He reached up to one of the higher shelves and pulled down several thin, old, leather-bound books.

"Here we go," Jason said to himself. "So do you want to watch that show or learn something about your family?" Jason returned to sit on the sofa.

Noah muted the sound on the show and scooted over toward his father. "What are those? Looks like you didn't take very good care of them."

"These are really old journals, and they are a little the worse for wear, but not because of me, if that's what you're thinking. These books have traveled a lot of miles and been handled a lot over the years. Your Grandpa Ben gave them to me when I turned twenty-one."

With piqued interest, Noah moved in even closer to his dad for a better look. Jason gently opened the cover of the oldest journal and pulled out a cardboard-framed daguerreotype and some sheets of paper that were filled with writing.

"Take a look at this." The boy's father carefully held the photograph so that Noah could get a good look at it.

"Wow! Who are those guys? They kinda look like the guys on tv."

Turning the photo over, Jason read the faded ink inscription:

"'July 4, 1860 - Virginia City, Nevada

Benjamin Cartwright: born 1810, died 1882

Adam Cartwright: born 1830, died 1911

Eric (Hoss) Cartwright: born 1836, died 1872

Joseph Cartwright: born 1842, died 1896'"

He turned the photo over again. "The oldest man, Benjamin Cartwright is, well, I guess you would say the original father of our family. The dark-haired man on his right is Adam. Man, now that I think about it, you look a little bit like him. We come from Adam's branch of the Cartwright family tree."

"Family tree?"

"Yeah, a tree. That's how it looks when you draw out all the family connections." Jason extracted another page from the papers in his lap. "See, this is what it looks like."

Noah read through the names down the branch under Adam Cartwright's name. The genealogy had been updated through his own father. "Hey, shouldn't I be here, too?"

Jason looked at his son a bit embarrassed. "Yeah, buddy, guess I'm a little behind the times, huh? I'll get that fixed, but I want to take the time and do it neatly, OK?"

Noah nodded. "OK, but don't forget."

After a minute, Jason began reading from another page. "Benjamin Cartwright was born in 1810 in Watertown, Massachusetts, not far from Boston. He worked during his teens as a cabin boy on a ship for Captain Abel Stoddard…"

Father and son spent the next couple of hours learning some of their family's history. Later that evening, Noah decided to watch an episode of "Comstock Lode" to see what life was like back in the mid 1800's. Though most things seemed very strange to him, he became fascinated with ranch life and the wild West. His last waking thoughts before falling asleep that night were of riding a stagecoach into Virginia City, Nevada in 1860. His dreams mysteriously took him where his conscious mind had yet to go.

Dressed in skinny-legged jeans and a maroon hoodie with the Nike logo printed on it, Noah jumped down from the dusty stagecoach. He was greeted with skeptical looks from the townspeople of Virginia City all of whom were attired in period appropriate 1800's clothing.

Noah's wide eyes took in the bustling street filled with horses and cowboys with guns strapped to their sides. "This is awesome!"

A man with a bushy mustache who was wearing a plaid shirt and blue vest immediately approached the boy. "Are ya alone, son?"

Noah removed his ear buds and quickly tucked them away into the pocket of his hoodie along with his Iphone. "What'd you say?"

"Are ya alone? Ya look a bit…", the man wearing a metal star on his vest stammered, "well, just not sure I've ever seen a boy dressed like you before. What's your name and where are ya from?"

"Noah, Noah Cartwright. I'm from Boston. Are you the sheriff here?"

"Yes, Sheriff Coffee. Ya say your name's Cartwright?"

"Yeah, do you know Benjamin Cartwright?"

Coffee arched a brow. "Sure do. You some relative of his?"

"Yeah, he's my great-grandpa times five."

Roy Coffee shook his head and looked very uncomfortable. "Say that again!"

"Ben Cartwright is the start of my family tree," the boy added in a nonchalant manner. "This is so cool! Is this Virginia City?"

"It is, for sure and for certain." Coffee urged the boy off the street and onto the boardwalk. "Maybe we'll just take a little walk to my office."

Noah observed the buildings as they moved along. Raucous male voices could be heard coming from The Lucky Shamrock Saloon. Moments later Roy Coffee paused in front of the Silver Dollar Saloon when he heard familiar voices coming from within.

Coffee placed a hand on the dark-haired boy's shoulder. "You're gonna need ta wait here a minute while I check on somethin'."

Noah nodded and leaned against the porch post momentarily, but once the sheriff was out of sight, he gently pushed the louvered doors open a few inches and peeked inside. He saw that most of the tables were filled with cowboys or men dressed in old-fashioned suits who sat drinking mugs of beer or small glasses of whiskey. Noah jumped back from the doors in a hurry when he heard heavy footsteps rapidly coming his way.

Surprised to see four robust men with faces he recognized coming through the swinging doors, the boy blurted out, "Hey, you're Ben Cartwright, and Adam, Eric, and Joseph!"

The Cartwright men stood staring with gaping mouths, startled not only by the greeting, but also by Noah's appearance.

Adam was the first to find his voice. "And just who might you be, young man?"

The boy looked at them with dancing hazel eyes. "I'm Noah Cartwright," pointing first to Adam and then to Ben, "and you're my great-grandpa times four and you're my great-grandpa times five!"

Roy shrugged at Ben. "See it's just like I told ya."

"Are you crazy, son? Haven't your parents taught you the importance of telling the truth? None of my boys are even married!" Ben bellowed.

Noah stepped back surprised by the amount of volume his predecessor could project.

Adam interceded. "Now wait a second, Pa. We need to find out more about this. Noah seems like a nice boy."

"I am telling the truth. Here I'll show you." Noah pulled his Iphone from his pocket to bring up the image of the daguerreotype.

Hoss scrunched up his face. "What the Sam Hill is that thing?"

"It's an Iphone, Here, see your pic." Noah held the screen in front of them.

The four Cartwrights and the sheriff jumped backwards in unison.

Joe responded in shock. "What the h…"

Ben scowled. "Joseph! That does not help the situation!"

Adam quickly grabbed Noah's hands and pushed his phone toward the pocket of his hoodie. "Better put that thing away for the moment."

There was sadness in the boy's eyes and he dropped his head. "But it's you. You're my family."

Adam empathized with the boy. "I think we need to get off the street and sort this out. Where are your parents, Noah?"

The disenchanted ten year-old whispered toward his Vans. "They're back in Boston."

"In Boston?"

"Yeah, Boston, you know like where you were born and where Great-Grandpa Ben worked on a ship." Noah's frustration showed in his voice.

The Cartwrights looked at each other in even greater shock than before.

Suddenly Adam became aware that they were drawing quite a crowd of nosy bystanders. "Pa, I'm going to take Noah, hire a rig, and then head for the Ponderosa."

"Sounds like a good idee, Adam. I'll send these folks on their way. Let me know if you need me for anything." The sheriff motioned to break up the crowd that was hovering nearby.

"We'll see you at home, Adam." Ben shook his head in disbelief before he smacked his stunned younger sons on their arms to get them moving toward their horses.

On the ride to the ranch, Adam had lots of questions for Noah, as did the boy for his great-grandpa times four. Adam was astounded by the boy's incredible knowledge of the world.

"So that object you carry is called an Iphone? How does it work?"

"Well I can't really show you, because it's like 1860 here and 2016 where I come from, but you just enter the number of the person you want to talk to and then you hold it up to your ear like this and talk to them." Noah demonstrated using his phone for Adam.

Adam shook his head in amazement. "Really? Must be kind of like the telegraph."

"Maybe. I don't know how a telegraph works. An Iphone also takes pictures and you can ask it questions. That part won't work right now, but I can still take pictures. Look at me and smile."

"What?"

"Look at me and say 'cheeseburger'." Noah's smirk would have looked scarily familiar to Adam's father and brothers.

"What is a cheeseburger and why would I say that?"

"It's a goofy way to get someone to smile. Ok? "

"But people aren't supposed to smile for photographs. It's not proper etiquette."

"What's etiquette?"

"Manners. It's bad manners to smile for a photograph."

"No way! Everybody smiles for pictures where I come from. Come on, just for me, please?"

"Oh alright, then. Cheeseburger." Adam offered Noah enough of a smile to show off his dimples and Noah captured it with his phone.

"Awesome! See." The boy showed the screen to Adam.

"Absolutely fantastical!" Adam looked at Noah dumfounded but then went quiet.

"Did I do something wrong? You're not saying anything." The boy looked at Adam with concern.

"Uh...no, you're fine, just thinking." It had suddenly dawned on the oldest Cartwright son, that Noah's sheer existence meant that someday, probably in the not too distant future, he would get married and have children. That left him both relieved and unsettled.

Noah requested to ride a horse and shoot a pistol when they got to the ranch house. Adam was more than happy to grant the boy's wishes. Later when Noah grew hungry, Hop Sing prepared a platter of sandwiches. The Cartwright family talked about ranch life while Noah and Hoss polished off the sandwiches.

Though Noah was enjoying himself immensely, he soon felt the need to get going. "Thanks for letting me ride a horse and shoot a pistol. It was really fun. It's been great to see all of you and the Ponderosa, but I think I'd better get back home. My parents will be worried about me."

"You're going to travel back to Boston alone?" Ben looked at his sons. "We can't let you do that."

Noah shrugged. "I know it's hard to understand, but you have to. That's how I got here and you can't go with me. It just won't work. Can you take me back to town to catch the stagecoach, please?"

"If that's what you want, but we sure don't feel good about it. How will we know if you arrive safely?"

"Don't worry. I'm sure I'll be fine." Noah gave them all a reassuring smile. "Can I get a couple of pictures before I leave?"

"This is amazing! Just wait until you all see this!" Adam exclaimed.

Noah took one picture of the four Cartwrights and then showed Joe how to take a photo with his phone. The boy positioned himself on the base of the hearth between Ben and Adam. Noah slung his arms around the shoulders of his grandfathers and offered Joe a wide grin. Pleased with the results, he showed both pictures to the family.

"Unbelievable!" Ben clapped Noah on the back.

A few hours later the Cartwrights were waving goodbye to Noah as the stagecoach pulled away from the office. The boy pushed his ear buds into place, and turned on his music. Pulling his hood up, he slouched down and settled in for the long bumpy ride ahead.

Noah woke the next morning in his own bed. A pleasant smile came to his lips as his dream replayed in his mind. He reached for his phone to check the time. Relieved to see that he did not need to rush to get ready for school, Noah tapped the icon for the camera. He brought up the photo roll so that he could glance once again at the image of the yellowed daguerreotype. When the most recent photo popped up, Noah dropped his phone like he had been burnt and jumped out of his bed.

"Mom! Dad!"


End file.
